Glen Murray will step down immediately from cabinet, but will remain as an MPP for a few more weeks to wind down some local constituency business.

Glen Murray, Ontario's minister of Environment and Climate Change, will announce on Monday his resignation from cabinet. He will remain MPP for Toronto Centre for a few more weeks.

By Robert BenzieQueen's Park Bureau Chief

Sun., July 30, 2017

Premier Kathleen Wynne is suffering the loss of a key member of her cabinet with the surprise departure of Environment and Climate Change Minister Glen Murray, the Star has learned.

Murray, 59, who has been out of the country and was unavailable for comment, will announce Monday at Queen’s Park that he is set to resign from provincial politics.

The Toronto Centre MPP, also a former mayor of Winnipeg and one-time Star columnist, has been Wynne’s point person on climate change.

He will step down immediately from cabinet, forcing the premier to do a minor shuffle of her executive council on Monday morning, but will remain as an MPP for a few more weeks to wind down some local constituency business.

However, his resignation will not trigger a byelection in what has been a traditionally safe Liberal seat both provincially and federally — his seatmate is federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau.

That’s because under Ontario law, a byelection must be called within six months of a vacancy unless a province-wide election is imminent.

With voters going to the polls on June 7, 2018, there was concern about Elections Ontario spending an estimated $500,000 to conduct a byelection.

Sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal party matters, said Murray is leaving for a high-profile job outside politics. His successor as environment minister was not immediately known.

Internationally respected on environmental issues, he was first elected in a February 2010 byelection after then-deputy premier George Smitherman left to run for mayor of Toronto and lost to Rob Ford.

Former premier Dalton McGuinty elevated Murray to cabinet just six months later where he served as minister of research and innovation. After the 2011 election, he was promoted to minister of training, colleges, and universities.

After McGuinty stepped down in October 2012, he launched a Liberal leadership bid, but dropped out to support Wynne shortly before the party’s convention in January 2013.

The new premier rewarded him for his timely endorsement, which gave her campaign momentum, by making him transportation and infrastructure minister in February 2013.

Following her majority victory in June 2014, Wynne moved him to the Ministry of the Environment and added “Climate Change” to his title to underscore its importance as Ontario was joining Quebec and California in a cap-and-trade system.

In a move some Liberals felt demonstrated petulance, Murray responded to being shuffled by taking to Twitter that June 25 and saying: “Today it sunk in the last election was my last.”

“Promised that if I couldn’t make a difference in 8 or 10 years I couldn’t make a difference,” the minister tweeted more than three years ago.

“First openly gay person elected in Canada. I have to thank Winnipeggers for electing me councillor and mayor and TO for electing me MPP and minister,” he continued.

“Minister of Environment in Ontario is the best political position I have ever had the privilege to hold. I was not demoted. Kathleen Wynne put me in a position where I can fight to ensure we can survive climate change.”

While his prophecy turned out to be true, Murray had indicated to allies more recently that he planned to run again next year, so his exit is blindsiding the governing Liberals.

A strong performer in the legislature, where he usually deflects opposition questions skilfully, he has emerged as one of Wynne’s better known ministers.

Last month, Murray announced the government would spend $85 million to clean up the mercury-poisoned Wabigoon River that has poisoned people of the Grassy Narrows First Nation and the Whitedog First Nation for decades.

“I have never seen a case of such gross neglect. I am embarrassed as a Canadian that this ever happened and I can’t understand how people for 50 years sat in that environment office knowing this was going on as a minister and simply didn’t do anything about it,” he told the Star on June 27.

In 2016, Murray unveiled the government’s ambitious five-year, $8.3-billion plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which included a push for motorists to park their gas and diesel cars and replace them with electric vehicles.

As part of the climate change strategy, gasoline prices rose by 4.3 cents a litre and natural gas bills by an average of $5 a month, some of which was offset by incentive programs to encourage conservation.

Yet Murray stared down critics, warning the price of doing nothing to curb greenhouse gas emissions was far more costly, and that Ontarians appreciate the gravity of the situation.

“People are very concerned about their children and the kind of planet they’re going up on and they want to do know to do,” he said last year.

( sounds like she shuffled the deck on the titanic , as where her government seems headed at this point )

Wynne shuffles cabinet as Glen Murray leaves for Pembina Institute

Allison Jones — Canadian Press

Monday, July 31st, 2017

TORONTO – Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne shuffled a few members of her cabinet this morning, a move triggered by the departure of her environment minister to the Pembina Institute.

Environment Minister Glen Murray is leaving his cabinet position and will resign his Toronto Centre seat on Sept. 1.

The announcement comes as a surprise, as Murray had previously indicated he would run again in next year’s provincial election.

Murray will become the executive director of the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank.

Chris Ballard, who had been serving as Ontario’s housing minister, moves to the environment portfolio, and Peter Milczyn is promoted to cabinet to take over at housing.

Murray has been a fierce defender of his environmental positions and under his tenure the ministry implemented an ambitious cap-and-trade program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

A former mayor of Winnipeg, Murray was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2007 and served as minister of research and innovation and minister of training, colleges and universities under then-premier Dalton McGuinty.

After Wynne was elected premier, she gave him the portfolios of infrastructure and transportation.

Wynne said in a statement that Murray has always been guided by his passion.

“He is unrelenting in his advocacy for the issues he cares deeply about, dedicated to the people he represents in Toronto Centre and across the province…There is no doubt that Glen’s voice, candour and passion at the cabinet table will be missed.”

Wynne also cheered Murray’s advocacy for the LGBTQ community as the country’s first openly gay mayor.

“Glen’s career has courageously lead by example, paving the way for people to be their true selves and become whatever they want to be,” she wrote.

Murray said in his statement that the decision to leave was a difficult one that he made with the support of his partner, Rick.

“I have also always viewed my life and career as split up into distinct chapters and often in response to serious challenges,” he wrote. “When confronted with a choice between the ‘unthinkable’ and the ‘impossible,’ I will always take on the impossible to stop the unthinkable.”

With the provincial election set for June 7, Wynne said she would not be calling a Toronto Centre byelection because of the cost.

I believe that Glen Murray had stated he wasn't going to contest the 2018 election anyway.
Him leaving early isn't much of a surprise.

His riding not having sitting representation from September 1st 2017 to June 7th 2018 is a little disappointing.

With that said the Premier's majority shrinks to six seats;
With three more Liberal MPPs declaring they won't run in 2018.

no I don't think it was exactly a surprise that he wasn't running again but its unlikely he is the last mpp to announce there not running . as there is still many more who have not made it clear what there doing

and even if the liberals run incumbent mpp's in some of these ridings its going to be much more challenging to hold them in 2018 than past years

I think also some of these mpp's intentionally stayed on longer than they should of just so they could avoid by elections in ridings potentially winnable for the opposition . a by election in York Centre would of been hotly contested and could of been won by pc's but Kwinter stayed on even as he didn't bother to show up in the legislature due to health issues

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